- Nihilism:
Nihilism is the belief that life and traditional values are both futile and useless. It focuses on the futility of the human condition. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s death was caused by his own inability to understand that his dream was impossible to obtain. Gatsby tried so hard to achieve this impossible dream and because he was unaware that Daisy would never go back to him, his death was being foreshadowed. And, because Gatsby thought that he could change the past and since he did not understand that his “dream” was not possible, he deceived himself into thinking that he could actually achieve his dream of getting Daisy back into his life. In the quote, “I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before” (pg. 117), one can see that Gatsby is deeply lost within what he is saying which therefore leads to him lying to his self. An example of this idea of Gatsby trying to “erase the past” is when he tells everyone that his past life was great and he lived “like a Rajah”, but we as the readers know that this in fact was not true. Gatsby lied so well that he was lying not only to society but also to himself and this further reiterates his dedication for his dream. Therefore, it is the human’s own ability of dishonesty with one’s self and inability to accept life with the reality and consequences that comes with it which causes the unhappiness and futility in one’s life. And therefore, this futility was the start to Gatsby’s unhappy life which than led to his death.
In contrast to Gatsby, Jordan Baker was a very nihilistic character in a different way. She had everything she needed and did not need to work for anything. Jordan had little hope of obtaining something out of life because she had everything in her hands and therefore life was meaningless to her. The motif breast represents the “American Dream” and because Fitzgerald describes Jordan as having small breasts, pg 110 “once there he could suck on the pap of life, gulp down the incomparable milk of wonder”, it proves the fact that her life had no meaning and she had no desire to chase after a dream or goal because she already had “old money” and had everything she wanted, which were the material things. But, she failed to realize that she had nothing she needed, she did not have any real happiness or love.
- Introduction:
In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the passage “The valley of ashes” in the present tense which differs from the rest of the book because the novel is mostly written in the past tense. This passage illustrates important motifs which reveal the overall greater theme within the whole novel. Because this passage is different, one can see that this passage is significant and includes many important aspects which the author brings out in a very unique way.
Thesis:
In the passage, Fitzgerald repeats important motifs to illustrate society’s ignorance of reality which reveals the “eternal blindness” of the truth because of the need of, essentially, unimportant materials in life.
- Fitzgerald uses the repetition of words that represent impaired vision due to obscurity to represent the symbolic meaning of “blindness” of society to reality.
“hastily” “ashes” “rising smoke” “dimly” “powdery air” “ghastly creak” “impenetrable cloud” “bleak dust” “dimmed” “dismal scene”
- Fitzgerald uses the repetition of the motif “eyes” as a metaphor to convey the indefinable significance of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg on the billboard. Because the eyes “brood on over the solemn dumping ground”, they represent the eyes of God, staring down at the corruption and immorality of the time.
“…the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg” “eyes of …T.J. Eckleburg... blue and gigantic” “irises” “blindness” “his eyes”
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Fitzgerald uses negative connotation throughout the passage to connect the characters that live in the valley of ashes to the futility and hope of the American Dream.
“…desolate area” “grotesque gardens” “ghastly creak” “leaden spades” “paintless days” “solemn dumping ground” “small foul river”
- Fitzgerald uses the repetition of the motif of eternity to emphasize the long lasting ignorance within society.
“finally” “endlessly” “eternal blindness” “waiting turns” “long” “always”
- Fitzgerald uses the repetition of the color gray to foreshadow the poor future that lies ahead with no color to come of the people who hope for the American Dream. This symbolizes the loss of hope of the American Dream to the people of the Valley of Ashes.
“Gray cars” “ash-gray men” “gray land” “ashes”
- Fitzgerald uses the present tense in this passage to demonstrate the gravity of society and the major influence of materials which destroys society.
“joins” “runs” “grow” “take the forms” “ crawls” “gives out” “comes to rest” “is bounded”
Implications:
- There is no real American Dream, it cannot be achieved.
- Materialism overpowers Idealism
- Society is ignorant to the truths of reality.
- WP2 Question:
The contradictions of human behavior are portrayed through Fitzgerald’s meaning of the American Dream and the role of society in verifying this meaning. In the novel, Scott Fitzgerald characterizes the society in a way which negatively connotes the American Dream causing it to be unattainable. Hope is used throughout the novel to communicate the irony within society’s continuance desire of the American Dream. This irony is signified through plot and the deaths of Myrtle, Wilson, and Jay Gatsby. Throughout the novel, one may notice the repetitive irony within the major deaths of the characters that all pursued the American dream. The American Dream in itself is ironic because it is impossible to achieve but because society does not realize this, they continue to base their lives upon it.
Through Myrtle’s death, Fitzgerald reveals the true meaning of the American Dream. He shows us that by Myrtle dying, all of her hope in achieving a dream of being rich is gone. She was not able to achieve her dream of living a luxurious life, a goal in which she tried hard to achieve. Myrtle lives in the Valley of Ashes, a much desolated area in which most of society within that community is very poor. Myrtle therefore, represents the norm of an individual in that area. Myrtle has dreams and because she dies, Fitzgerald wants to kill off the American Dream. When Daisy ran over Myrtle and her left breast was torn off, this symbolized the complete destruction of the American Dream for Myrtle. This then reinforces the idea that, attaining the American Dream is impossible. It is impossible to obtain because anyone who tries to achieve it will end up in complete destruction.
Wilson’s death also plays a role in revealing the irony behind the American Dream. The fact that Fitzgerald chooses Wilson and Myrtle to die in the novel rather than Daisy and Tom is very significant because Wilson and Myrtle had dreams, and Daisy and Tom already had everything they needed. This is ironic because, Daisy and Tom did not have to work for anything; they had “old money” which allows them to live life at ease. So, they had no dreams, no goals in contrast to Wilson and Myrtle. Wilson on the other hand, was the complete opposite. His life was hard and he greatly desired the life of Tom and Daisy. Although these characters differ in many ways, there is also a very noticeable similarity between the characters. They all base their life on the materialistic aspects of life, rather than trying to be happy. All of these characters depended upon the materials, one more than the other, which then led to the death of Wilson. Although he did kill himself, his death symbolizes the end of not only his life, but also the end of the American Dream.
In the novel, Jay Gatsby also dies. His death was the ultimate conclusion of the unattainable dream. Because Gatsby worked his whole life in getting Daisy and although he had everything he wanted and ever needed, he failed to realize that his dream of getting Daisy back into his life was impossible. Therefore, Gatsby had to die. Gatsby was the one character who wanted more than what he already had, he was looking for more than the American Dream, and nobody could get that for him, he could not use any of his materials to buy this dream. He himself had to try his best; he had to use all of his materials to bring his dream to him. But, though he did do all of these things to try and persuade Daisy to come back to his life, she did not do it, and we as readers know that she never would have. And because Gatsby dies, the Dream is also over for him and the opinion of the author is finally being clearly explained. Reaching the American Dream is impossible.
The irony within this idea of the destruction of the American Dream in the novel demonstrates the contradictions of human behavior. Through the deaths of the three characters with goals, one can realize that the American Dream is impossible but society looks beyond the truths of this idea, and continues to dream big and reach higher goals. What society does not understand is that by pursuing this dream, one will essentially destroy their whole life.
